Determination of Mung Bean Seed Viability Change in Vacuum Packaging during Storage in Different Temperatures

Mung bean seeds decreased their viability very fast during storage, especially in tropical area without proper packaging. The purpose of this study is to observethe decrease in viability of mung bean seeds during storage and to build a mathematical model for shelf life prediction. Dried mung bean seeds were vacuum packed and stored in Accelerated Shelf-life Testing chamber at five different temperatures of 30° C, 35° C, 40° C, 45° C, 50° C with approximately 80% in relative humidity, to facilitate rapid deterioration with different rate of physical and chemical change in the seed. The results show that there was an increase in moisture content and the germination decreased in different rates. Changes in values for some parametersof the seeds affected the viabilty of the seeds during rapid deterioration. The value of constant (k)for viability decreasing was calculated and used to build the mathematical model for predicting the shelf life of mung bean seeds during storage at any temperature. Using the developed model, it was observed that the shelf life of the Sriti variety of mung bean seeds in vacuum packaging could maintain 90% of germination level for 421 days or 14.3 months if stored at 20 °C, and for 173.37 days or 5.78 months if stored at 25 °C.